The storybook ending to Dennis O’Grady’s collegiate career added its final chapter.

The former Archbishop Molloy star finished his senior season at Duke by allowing just three hits over 7-2/3 innings to lead the Blue Devils to a 2-0 win over No. 15 Miami. Wednesday afternoon he got the news that his baseball career would continue as O’Grady was selected in the 34th round by the San Diego Padres on the final day of the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

“It was an exciting feeling. I got pretty excited about it,” O’Grady said. “I think my friends and my family were just as excited as I was. It took a little while for it to sink in. It was just a surreal couple of minutes.”

The 5-foot-10 right hander was following the draft with his friends and family in the backyard of his Floral Park home and plenty of hugs and high fives ensued. O’Grady said the Padres were one of the teams that came down to watch him pitch at Duke and he knew he was on their radar coming off his best season as a collegiate pitcher.

“I knew this year was going to be a terrific year for him,” Duke coach Sean McNally said. “I didn’t have any doubt he would get drafted because of the way he performed.”

The sixth-year head man, who spent nine years as a professional player and three years as a coach in the Cleveland Indians organization, felt O’Grady became an elite pitcher in the ACC this season. O’Grady said that in years past there was always something holding him back, but the physical tools and the advantage of added experience finally came together.

“This puts a great cap on the year,” O’Grady said. “A lot of work went into the first three years and all my time at Duke. It’s just a good feeling to know it all came together at the right time. Doing what I did my last year was really special.”

He threw 90 to 93 mph comfortably, relied on his sharp slider more and mixed in a plus change. O’Grady led the team in wins, starts and innings pitched. He finished with a 6-3 record, a 3.65 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 86-1/3 innings. When he wasn’t on the mound, unlike most pitchers, he played some first base, second base, outfield and DH. Starting 34 games, he hit.275 with 20 RBIs and eight steals.

“He earned this and it’s a steal for the Padres at the round they drafted him in,” McNally said. “I think he is going to open some eyes in that organization.”

When O’Grady heads down to Arizona later this week he could be joined by former high school rival Paul Karmas. The former St. Francis Prep star was drafted Tuesday in the 25th round by San Diego. He hasn’t talked to Karmas in awhile, but is looking forward to potentially being teammates with him.

“It just show the kind of league the city has been and the type of players it’s produced,” O’Grady said.

He has already scrambled to make travel plans for later this week after getting the happy news. After a short stint at the team’s spring training facility in Arizona, O’Grady is headed to to Eugene, Ore., to play for the Eugene Emeralds, the Padres’ short season Single A affiliate.

“That was his goal, to get drafted. Now he’s achieved that,” Molloy coach Jack Curran said. “Now he gets a chance to play in the minor leagues and see what he can do. That’s all he wanted.”